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Monday, January 30, 2017

In this case I went with a square shape so that I could use foam tape. I stamped a message on white paper....

I foam taped around the message and sprinkled glitter and sequins inside. I then put a piece of laminate over the top. This sealed in the glitter. I covered the whole thing with washi tape and then bedazzled the rest of the card.

Friday, January 27, 2017

I've wanted to try rice paper pictures forever. I ordered these off of Etsy. I just searching for rice paper Valentine's and there were several companies to choose between. Make sure you check the size b/c there were some more affordable ones....because they are the size of a postage stamp. I found these which are about 2x3. It came as a set of 8.

I cut out cookie dought rectangles using a knife (because I was too lazy to hunt through cookie cutters). I used this recipe. It's my favorite because it doesn't spread much while you bake! I just used canned icing. I added about 2 T of karo syrup to make it harden some. I applied some to the cookie with a knife and just pressed the rice paper picture on top.

I pressed down the sides because they wanted to curl up a little, but by pressing them into the icing, this helped them stay flat after they dried.

To make my life easy, I used red decorator's piping icing. I squeezed it out of the tube and added about 1/4 c powdered sugar to make it a little thicker and some karo syrup (1 T per c. helps icing harden as it dries so it can be bagged). I put the icing in a ziplock, snipped the edge and then just did a little texture around the edge to give it a frame.

I kind of love how they turned out, and it really was a super easy project. I'll definitely be trying these for future holidays!

You can actually print your own rice paper pictures, but you really should buy a edible ink and use a printer that you just print icing sheets with...which would be fun, but after reading about it, if you don't use it all the time it clogs easily, so...I just bought it from someone else who will have to worry about clogs!

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

I saw an adorable dream catcher recently on instagram via a gal I follow at HouseofHawthorne. She has lots of bohemian things. I wanted to make a few artsy piece for the walls of my craft room, and this one (modeled as close to hers as I could make it) was right up my alley. I was able to use yarn scraps to put this together. The only thing I purchased was the hoop. If I were patient enough I would have held off for a thrift store find, but patience isn't a virtue I've acquired just yet.

I took an old sheet and I tore a strip which I wrapped around the embroidery hoop.

I then wrapped string back and forth so it looks a bit like a dream catcher. I used my yard scraps to make some tassels. I posted a quick tutorial on youtube on how to do that if you don't have a favorite way to make tassels already. I tied on the tassels to misc spots.

Last up I tied random ribbon, lace and and trimming across the middle and I dangled it down both sides. I love the way it turned out and I can't wait to branch out and see what else I can create using this same technique!

Friday, January 20, 2017

I've been posting the details of this nursery over the last few weeks. Here's the final shebang. My co-worker had a baby, and her husband didn't want to know the gender, but she did. They compromised and if she agreed to wait, he agreed to let her have the nursery decorated. That's where I come in, the only thing I ever pretend to be is crafty, but this nursery was a fun one. Anyone that knows me well knows I love a good bargain. I was a given a budget of 500, and I was able to put this all together for 350...winning! I had her pin nurseries she liked for boys or girls, and she pinned a lot of navy, gray, and mint, so that was my first stop. Her and her husband love baseball, so that seems like the obvious choice, but I didn't really think it went well with these colors, and I figured that would be a fun way to turn over his room from baby to little boy, though I've told him to go slow on the growing thing. The other thing I know about Jessica and her husband is that they love to travel, so that's what I decided to do-little bits of travel themes in a mint, navy, and gray nursery.

Here are the before photos. They bought the crib and a dresser that seconds as a changing table. The cubbies were in their office before.

Our friend, Kristine, was getting rid of this light green chair. I danced a little when she told me the color. She had to choose furniture based on a neutral theme. The colors for the girl's nursery were pinks and golds. The prayer sign was a gift from baby Miles grandmother, and it just so happens to work perfectly as well.
Now to the after....

This is the changing table area. I found a cute little basket to store diapers. I found the M with the map already on it (thank you, Michael's). It was on sale. I also found the round mirror and chevron frame, and tool caddy at Hobby Lobby. I waited for those to go half off. I made the clipboard (click back on old post for that). I got the pillow on sale at Target, and the blanket is from HomeGoods.

I made the banner using my cricut (click back for that tutorial).

This little jar holds some pacifiers, and the burp clothe is another thing I made with my embroidery machine. I put this close to the rocking chair. Eventually, this will hold diapers etc.

I made this little onsie for Miles, and a little album she can fill with his first adventures (click back for those details). The album is the shape of a luggage tag. I filled the frame with their facebook pregnancy announcement.

I bought the shelf on clearance at AtHome.

The changing pad cover was from Burlington Coat Factory. The bedsheets (a two pack) were also from there.

I bought the cubbies (blue) and the lamp/shade were also on clearance. I had asked her to pull things that were from each of their childhoods so I could incorporate them. The little truck and glove were her husband's toys when he was little. I made the little arrows just as a little extra, they were cheap, and a fun way to use the colors. I also had made the banner to hang somewhere and it turns out it looked good over the windows. I had another plan, but when I went for my jigsaw it had found it's way to my brother's girlfriend's house. In all fairness, he bought it, but my defense is it's lived at my house for about ten years now. It turns out these looked cute above the window.

I found this little suitcase on Amazon, the globe is from Michael's, the compass is from Ebay (less than 2 dollasr), and the airplane rattle is from Etsy. I died when I saw this. I tried to sew one b/c I don't know how to knit (it's on my list), but I just kept going back to this and I finally ordered it as a gift.

I found this rug on clearance at HomeGoods (12 dollars). I got the M at Hobby Lobby (half off). I bought the two signs on etsy, but I used frames from thrift stores (for a dollar) to frame these signs. I just sprayed them to match the room. Oh the Places You'll Go was the priciest of the two (24), but I got to customize the colors. The Adventure Sign was only 5 dollars, but I had to print it myself.

I bought the arrow pillow at Hobby Lobby, and I made this little pillow with my embroidery machine. I made the airplane mobile. All those tutorials have been posted in the last week or two. I also made the quilt and the bedskirt (click back for those tutorials).

I really loved being able to put together this nursery. It's fun to play in other people's houses and with their 'stuff.' Mama, Daddy, and Miles got to see it this fall (finally) when they brought him home. I can't wait to watch his adventures unfold!

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Here are a few more crafts I whipped up for the nursery I recently did (the whole thing coming soon. I went with a light travel theme, so I wanted to make a few things that reflected that. For the dictionary page, I pulled out the page with the word explore on it. I found a free graphic of an old globe and added the word across the globe and then I found a plane and used dashed to make it look like it was flying around the globe. All of it was done in word. I'm not very tech savvy, so if I can do it....it can be done without much effort. I used this tutorial for printing the picture onto the dictionary page and then I mounted it on some scrapbook paper and put it on a clipboard.

I also made this little banner to hang on baby boys walls. I bought some different map paper, plane paper, and solids that match the nursery. I used some paper to sandwich the letters onto some twine and glued taped it to the back.

Monday, January 16, 2017

This year I got a bible journal for Christmas. My goal is to do at least 12 entries this year....so far I've done seven, so....I'd say I'm going to make that goal (I like to aim low :O)). I've been loving getting to use on of my favorite hobbies (arts and crafts) to interpret some of the verses I love, or some of the lessons I'm learning each week. I took a video walk through of the first five and the plan is to continue as I go along. I also have been posting photos in realtime via instagram. Here is a video walk through of the first five journal entries.

This was a super easy project I put together for my craft room. It was before the wall paint etc....better pictures to come, but....I grabbed about 10 fat quarters when they were on sale for 78 cents at JoAnnes

I cut them into 1 1/2 inch strips and then just tied them to a dowel rod style curtain rod that was already in the room that I was turning into my craft room. It doesn't get any easier than this, and is a fun pop of colors above the window.

Friday, January 13, 2017

I made a mobile for a friend last spring. She saw one online and I was able to make it for a fraction of the cost. When I was putting together a travel themed nursery a few months back I knew I was going to make a mobile...because it's so much cheaper than buying one! I'll share the whole nursery in a few weeks, but...here is one of the last pieces I made. I bought a box of little airplanes via Amazon. I took a small drill bit and started a hole in the top of the planes that matched the colors (sort of) of the room-blues, greens, and whites. I thought about spraying them to match the colors exactly, but I really liked the details of the planes!

Once I had the holes started I put these little screws in the top and used a tool to twist them down into the wood so I could hang them.

I used an embroidery hoop to hang them from. I sprayed it white and drilled four holes and some jewelry string to hang it all together along with a small white hoop (also from the jewelry/leather section) from the craft store. I used some super glue where I tied all the clear strings so they would not come undone.

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

I made this bed skirt for a nursery, and the cost was under fifteen. I'm not sure of the exact amount b/c some of the fabric was from other projects. I originally was going to go with ruffles, but....it's for a boy, so....I just gave him a little row of polka dots....and left the rest solid. I didn't want to receive therapy bills later, I'm a teacher. Anyway, I asked his mama for the dimension of the bed (52 by 29) and I cut the white piece of fabric to that size. The drop from the mattress to the floor was 17 inches so I cut about 5 inches of the polka dot and 13 inches of the blue. Sewing them together I ate up half an inch attaching to the white, and the other half inch attaching the polka dot to the navy so that it would hit at the right length.

I left the backside without any fabric b/c it's against the wall. The whole bedroom shebang coming shortly.

Monday, January 09, 2017

I've been blogging the details of a nursery I put together a few months back. The whole shebang is coming soon...promise. I wanted to blog some of the details first. The theme was lightly a travel theme, with the colors navy, mint, and gray being the overall picture. If that makes sense. Jessica and her husband travel a lot, and this little baby has even traveled to Europe in the first few months of his existence (via Mom). Most of the artwork for the wall I made, but this was the one piece I bought because I really loved it. It was 24 dollars from Etsy, and I was able to customize the colors I wanted. To save on the rest of it, I decided to grab a picture frame at goodwill for two dollars.

This is the original frame. It had floral print. I used some navy spray paint to give it new life. There was a problem though...it turns out it was a 12x15 and not an 11x14. I went back and forth with what to do, and I decided to float the art work in the middle. Usually when I float I put a second piece a glass behind it, but again, I was trying to save money, so.....I used some transparent tape on each corner and decided it wasn't that noticeable. Trust me, I'd be the first person bothered by this (I tried all different mats etc and just didn't like it).

I used some hot glue to run along the edge of the glass so that it remained in place. Room coming soon...